>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good morning, a historic morning is underway. we will transition from the old bay bridge on the right in the dark to the long-awaited new eastern span lit up on the left of the screen. this shot is from the camera and you can see no commuters as we enter the first full day of the bridge closure. thanks positive joining us. >> we are keeping a close eye on the commute, the first since the bay bridge shut down. crews are working to get the new eastern span of the bridge ready. >> are you ready with an alternative means of getting to work? we have coverage at the tom toll. -- at the toll plaza.

matt? >> the work is intense on the bay bridge. a steady stream of heavy equipment moved in moments after the bridge was closed. it is still here. crews are tearing up the old approach to the bridge and grinding away the old pavement to make way if a new path from the toll plaza. the new span will be connected to the oakland side and the island tunnel on the west side. on opening day there will be two miles of k rail to guide you while the old bridge is still riding. >> they will put up 10,000' of rail to control the traffic. headed into the tunnel westbound and eastbound, as well. >> the most challenging roth is demolition of the old upper deck so the bicycle path can be connected between land and bridge. the work during the closure has to do with grinning, paving, and striping, that takes time.

remember, the brand new shoulders are for emergencies only and the c.h.p. says if they cap you stopping for a look of the view, they can and will give you a ticket. >> we will see how traffic is going elsewhere. >> it is starting to build but i will take you over the altamont pass and you can see where we have yellow and it is just volume building but still moving at top speed. southbound 101 at 131, a car versus a deer with a slow down because of a lane being blocked off. you will see a slow down away from 580 into sausalito and the golden gate bridge. here is the altamont pass, from tracy, along 580 westbound, more yellow here but still at 59

miles per hour. that is decent. if you are headed out of tracy to dublin, under 30 minutes. antioch to concord is 15 minutes and 101 and san rafael through san francisco is under 20 minutes. this is a major artery, major alternate headed away from the east bay to the peninsula side and to san francisco. if you are looking at the tall lights westbound from hayward to foster city we have more traffic but it is still moving. anticipation and heightened awareness of what will happen driving around this morning but it is okay you run into drizzle on the peninsula and the coast and through the east bay hills but otherwise visibility is good

but more form will form around the golden gate bridge and north bay valley. by the afternoon, sunshine and an hour later today. 81 in the north bay and 89 in the east bay valley. it will be breezy at the coast into san francisco at 63 to 69. eric and kristen? >> a time-lapsed look at the construction work you can see the fog is heavy earlier around midnight. the fog then lifts and the crews worked around the clock to get the new span ready. >> bart is expecting hundreds of thousands of more passengers with commuters who usually would drive across the bay bridge and what is happening now on the beefed up bart service we go to katie marzullo in san francisco. katie marzullo? >> trains are wide open right

here. not of the people on the way to sfo did not give a second thought to the bridge closure. the crush of commuters is still ahead. the video is the crush from last night, the first evening commute after the bridge closure. bart is running longer trains during regular service hours. also, they are running 24 hour trains at 14 stations. we are talking overnight trains, once an hour, for extended service. the last time the bay bridge closed was in 2009, lay day weekend and ridership was up 30 percent. the bart schedule is different or extended through labor day, through monday. the best bet as you plan ahead is to check the bart schedule. we have resources for you on abc7news.com so plan ahead.

ange transit -- a.c. transit is running extra service at four bart stations including north berkeley and additional ferries are crossing the bay carrying 15 percent more passengers than usual on special schedules. we have details on the alternatives to get around at abc7news.com. if you need to drive you can see where the worst bottlenecks are, san mateo and richmond and san rafael and golden gate bridge will be busier than normal. >> we will bring you traffic updates from the road using cell seven technology. our news engineer is on the move at the san mateo bridge toll plaza -- no, richmond-san rafael bridge. what do you see?

>> so far, the ride on 580, westbound, through the toll plaza of the san rafael richmond bridge is moving at the speed limit and traffic could be heavier than normal but no problems to report. i checked out the ride through emeryville and berkeley and both directions of highway 80 are looking good and the interchange that splits off on 580 westbound to go over the san rafael richmond bridge is looking good and i am just getting on the bridge now and so far the traffic is looking good in this direction and the other correction so we will see if that changes. >> there is a convoy of trucks on interstate 580 during the commute and a company is turning out 6,000 truckloads of asphalt to pave the new bay bridge and could be congested so caltran will monitor traffic at the command center. they can reroute the convoy of

trucks if needed and officials say the trucks are diverted back to 880 and highway 238 dug overnight hours. >> who says caltran doesn't have a heart? a bride and groom are move ahead with plans to be married on sunday, with preparations underway for the wedding planned months ago. weddings are a specialty here on treasure island. the couple were shocked when they learned the bridge would be closed but caltran is bringing access passes to treasure island from san francisco for the wedding party. they will have a story to tell. >> stay with abc7 news for coverage throughout the next 5 1/2 days extreming live caltran briefings twice a day on our website at abc7news.com at 8:00 a.m. and at 4:30 in the afternoon. we will be like at 3:00 on monday for the chain-cutting ceremony. twitter followers will know the moment the bridge opens at abc7

news bay area. >> so far since 4:00 a.m. it has been light on the roadways but we are seeing problems and volume. leyla gulen? >> if you married to your car the traffic is moving along pretty well. if you are dipping the car and taking mass transit, good news, everything is on time. caltrain, everything is locking clear and the app shows a community of commuters that are providing their information on what the traffic is like. there is an issue, a car on the shoulder from a wazer. you can download the free app and join our group. this will help you get around all the backups.

mike? >> we will start with showing you the temperatures. it is mild this morning. low-to-mid 60's but half moon bay at 59 and 61 in san francisco and novato and santa rosa and hayward and concord. the temperatures are milder from one to seven degrees compared to yesterday and that is because of the extensive cloud cover. the day planner the next 12 hours, clouds, mist and drizzle and 59 to 64. by noon we are sunny and 66 at the coast and 78 inland and by 4:00 the clouds it at the coast and delightful in the evening with clouds rolling in the at bay to 76 inhand. >> the obama administration says syria has to be punished for using chemical weapons against its people and next the meetings today in thed with, that could set a timetable for military strike. >> a look at the work underway to get the new eastern span of the bay bridge ready for

traffic. >> are you feeling nostalgic for the old bridge? an oakland bit has a way to keep it

>> 5:14, and we take you to a potential choke points sir francis drake boulevard which

connects 580 and 101 where abc7 news engineer is using cell 7 technology. dick? >> i am on this stretch of sir francis drake boulevard the connection define 580 westbound and 101 southbound that passes the ferry terminal and the shopping center. this has to be a choke point because it is a one-lane surface street that connects two freeways together that be in heavy use today. caltran has their automated sign board warnings in the richmond area warning people that the golden gate bridge is cash only so if you normally do not go that way, that is a good warning. >> okay, dick. >> would knew the new bay bridge

could have such an impact on fashion in a store in oakland sells this t-shirt which worked with an oakland artist to a design. sales of the shirt have increased as the closing approaches. the store also has shirts featuring the new eastern span if you want to be in a new fashion trend. >> now the traffic situation with leyla gulen. we saw sir francis drake, that could be a problem. >> possibly. headed away from that area to the south in sausalito we have clear conditions moving along at top speed so 58 miles per hour as you make it to the golden gate bridge and headed into the city we will see a bit of traffic. and of course the surface streets through san francisco will load up.

our waze app shows moderate track on the san mateo bridge. you can navigate hands free and it is free so go to apple app and google play and join our group. the san mateo bridge shows tail lights are starting to build. so it is an excellent resource. >> at 5:17 we are looking at live doppler 7 hd radar and satellite is quiet. we have 23-mile-per-hour wind in fairly. we have a go sea breeze. that is why it is cloudy. one police officer waiting for anyone to go on the bay bridge. you are not supposed to. from south beach, it is a

different sight. clouds linger longer today. it will be average if not cooler-than-average clouds. what a tease...the weekend is cooler progressively saturday and sunday to monday. up the peninsula we have mid-to-upper 70's to pill bring at 62 and mid-to-upper 60's along the coast to downtown and 70 in south san francisco and low-to-mid 80's in the north bay valley but the beaches are 20 degrees cooler and partly sunny conditions and from 72 in berkeley to 80 in castro valley and fremont and mid-to-upper 80's in the east bay valley. it could uncomfortable in the afternoon. mid-to-upper 50's in the north bay through san francisco and half moon bay and fremont and morgan hill and santa cruz and everyone else in the low-to-mid 60's with cloud cover extensive tomorrow morning. the main player on the forecast the area of low pressure with

storms staying to the north and that is inducing the sea breeze and it will keep the sea breeze more rest length in the weekend forecast with high pressure pushing become tomorrow so we are warmer been five or six degrees and the low reasserted its domination friday, saturday, sunday and monday at 5- to 10-degrees cooler. after the holiday week, a warming trend on tuesday and wednesday. >> the prosecution in the case convicted serial killer joe self naso hope evidence of another possible victim leads to a death sentence. we have learned that the prosecution things they can link naso to the murder of a woman would body was found on a beach in 1981. a jury convicted him of killing four men. the jury will consider the sentence next month. they will hear from the children of the throw of the victims and his ex-wife who accuseses him of drugging her and letting men

sexually assault her. >> senior white house officials are holding a briefing on the situation in syria. president obama is evaluating how the united states will respond to the chemical attack on civilians allegedly by the seen government. the obama administration said it would take action against the syrian government even without the backing of allies or the united nations. great britain is new backing off a rush to strike. last night the u.n. security council failed to grow on a resolution authorizing military force with the chief pleading for more time for diplomacy. >> there is word of computer attacks in retall in addition in the united states is -- in retaliation if the united states is involved in an attack on syria. >> the united states is wriesing -- bracing for a wave of commuter attacks by hammers from syria or iran in retaliation for a military strike.

the n.s.a. is assessing the ability to disrupt financial systems and power grids and other infrastructure. so far security experts say the capability of syrian hackers is limited but iran and syria have been probing the systems for vulnerability. a mini van gets the highest crash test. honda redesigned the vehicle after it did poorly by a previous test by the insurance institute. many sport utility vehicles and small and mid-size cars have not done well in the different. and other popular minivans could have new testing soon. that is the news from the new york stock exchange with bloomberg business report. >> ahead, seven things to know as you begin your day.

>> also, the navigation of the commute in the bay area could b" make it a great day. i'm john muller. [ male announcer ] if you had a dollar, for every dollar car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have like, a ton of dollars. but how're they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing out, and yes, especially dollars. esurance. now backed by allstate. click or call. esurance. now backed by allstate. goglossophobia, is the fear of public speaking. ♪ ♪

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whether you are just joining us or headed out the door here are seven things to know this is the first morning since the bay bridge bloused and traffic was cut off at 8:00 p.m. on both sides of the bay as crews began work to connect the new span. this is the bay bridge.

you can see the crews with in car making their way into san francisco and it is closed. i will tell you what the other hotspots are coming up. >> bart is stepping up its service to help commuters get across the bay. trains running around the clock 24 hour as day through labor day with 14 stations open in between the regular service hours resuming at 4:00 a.m. katie marzullo has a live report with the details this a few minutes. >> a 1930 model a ford was the last to cross the span two minutes after c.h.p. put the closing this affect and was declared free of people and cars shortly before 8:30. >> fire crews will use large-scale backfire operations to battle the sierra fire burning in yosemite national park. it has scorched 192,000 acres the 5 the largest now in california history. it is now 30 percent contained

with full containment expected september 10789. >> the gulf coast is marking the 8th anniversary of hurricane katrina making landfall in 2005 with 1,800 people killed. the city mayor says he will take part in a ceremony at a local cemetery to remember the victims. >> check out the cloud cover, extensive this morning. we are going do have flight arrival delays in sfo and seasonal temperatures before a cooling trend this this weekend. >> san jose is getting ready for the bicycle sharing. the docking station have been installed in san francisco, redwood city, san mateo, mountain view, palo alto and san jose. 700 bicycles are available to rent 24 hours a day. the $11 million program encourages people to ride rather than drive open short trips and is live today at noon. we have a link on our website at

abc7news.com. >> san francisco mayor will take one of bicycles out for an official spin. morning news continues at 5:30 with the top stories. >> including the new assault crews will take to battle the stubborn rim fire burning near yosemite national park. >> continuing coverage of the bay bridge closure including the economic back the shutdown could have on san francisco businesses >> using cell 7 technology our engineer is southbound 101 near the waldo grade.

>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> thanks for starting your day right here with us and here is the macarthur maze traffic is blocked off on the left head westbound. the bay bridge is shut down. >> what you are seeing is the bay bridge toll plaza. there are no passenger cars. that is what we normally see just work vehicles as we transition to get the new eastern span open. this is the toll plaza. caltran closed the bay bridge at 8:00 last night and crews have been working all height to prepare for the opening of the new span next week the. >> we have coverage of the lotessure and we have our traffic reporter leyla gulen with how the roads are hooking. >> a little bit busier. a lot of folks could be taking a few days off for labor day week.

you could not pick a better time. there will be a huge commuter crush in the morning. if you take mass transit it is clear. outside we go and the golden gate bridge shows from sausalito to the city we have a few extra cars making their way into the city but mass transit, the waze app shows a bart berkeley station, one soul by himself so you may want to take mass transit, it is looking empty. he, althoughs lonely. >> i saw a train coming in and it was clear but nice to see it running. good morning, everyone, the radar satellite has a lot of cloud cover and patchy and minor drizzle not enough to make the

ground wet. i had use of the wipers on my alternate today. temperatures are close to average today at 81 in the not bay to 89 in the east bay valley and around the bay we go from 72 near berkeley to 81 headed to san jose and foote is what you have around millbrae and 63 at the coast and breezy this afternoon in san francisco. >> continuing our coverage of the bay bridge closure abc7 news reporter joining us from the toll plaza in oakland. matt, it continues this morning. >> yes, very busy. we are standing parallel to the toll plaza at 200 yards away and as i get out of the way you can see the work being done at the bay bridge. much of the work has to do with gripping, paving, and striping that takes type. the new span needs to be connected to land on the oakland

side and the yerba buena island tunnel. the challenging roth is demolition of the old westbound upper deck so the bicycle math can be connected between land and bridge. birds are nesting on the old bridge so boxes were,000 on the new span. >> we put the platforms to try and entice the birds over to make their home under the new bridge. >> when it is done driving the new bridge will be a much different experience from what you are accustomed to, the eastbound and westbound decks are side-by-side rather than stacked and the driving expense is were more open from the cantilever cage and there are two miles worth of rail to guide you while the old bridge is still standing. >> our coverage now takes us to san francisco and our reporter is monitoring bart service.

>> i talked with a couple of commuters and many say they did leave early to avoid the crowd and a man said he left an hour usually and get here to san francisco with no trouble at all so that could be the big tip this morning getting on the train now to come to san francisco and you could miss the crowds. as you can see from the video the plat follows are quiet this morning and i get the reports here and elsewhere. the last bay bridge closure was labor day of 2009 and ridership was up 30 percent. this morning, wart -- bart is offering this advice. >> many people who have never used bart or are not familiar with the system so i encourage people to be very patient and maybe build extra time into the commute and if possible avoid the busiest periods from 8:00 to

8:30 this morning, and 8:00 to 9:00. >> now you are looking at video of the mcarthur bart station an important hub with bart running overnight trains while the bridge is closed, once an hour, from 1 different stations and all of those overnight trains are meeting at mcarthur station. the overnight trains last through sunday and there are no overnight trains monday night into tuesday. saturday's schedule for bart on monday, labor day. >> right now we take you back outside to the roads for up-to-the-minute traffic report and abc7 news reporter shows us the conditions. dick, you were talking how it is no cash payment if those people who could be new to the golden gate bridge. >> absolutely. the golden gate bridge is a fast track only toll plaza and

unmanned so if you do not have a fast track they take a picture of your license late and send you a bill. no cash on the golden gate bridge and they have the warning signs all the way over in richmond to warn motorists that normally would not be coming this way this morning that you better have a fast track or some other plan to get through the toll plaza. as far as the traffic is concerned it is looking real good on 101 southbound going through marin county and up the will dough grade and i am mid-span on the golden gate bridge and could be a bit heavier than normal but everything is moving at the speed him and on the next report i have a friend that takes it route each morning at this hour and he will get back to me to let me know if he thinks it is heavier than normal. that is it for now. >> the san francisco chamber of commerce hopes that nature too many small businesses will be

hurt by the bridge shut down. a barber at a hotel at union square says some of the east bay customers have canceled because of the closure and he is self employed so if he is not cutting hair he is not making money. a chamber of commerce hopes extended bart service will keep people coming into the city. >> the last car on the original eastern span crossed the bridge after 8:00, a vintage 1930 ford model a crossed after c.h.p. put the closing in effect and the driver was from richmond. and he called the bay area toll authority to see if he and his friends could be the last over but bob was the only one who showed up and the car was escorted across by a couple of caltran tow trucks and the bridge was declared tree of people and cars before 8:30. we have live coverage throughout the next five days with the daily briefing from caltran each afternoon at 4:30 and live at

3:00 on monday for the chain-cutting ceremony, and our twitter followers will know the moment the new bridge opens. >> the good news the roads do knit have were trouble. >> not at all. we have not had reports of accidents which is excellence news and not much report stalls. there is an object on the road, a bit of debris blocking the road coming into san ramon and to dublin/pleasanton you are looking clear. on the waze app we are tracking heavy traffic. heavy, indeed. as you approach 101, it is bumper to bumper and then it moves along. the waze app will help you out so go to app and northbound away

from 880 from san jose is at top speed. >> if you are trying to get into san francisco, 57 in portrero hill and 58 in forest hill. there is mist and drizzle in the air. low-to-mid 60's ever are where and the exception is half moon bay at 57. you have cloud cover, though, too, and the next it will hours we will be up to mid-60's through 7:00. possibly 9:00 with the mist and drizzle then gone. near 80 inland at noon. mid-80's inland at 4:00, and 66 at the coast which is close to average. enjoy the weather. low-to-mid 60's around the coast and mid-70's inland. >> the rim wildfire continues to burn into yosemite national park and the if you strategy crews plan on using today to fight the flames. >> outside from our yerba buena

island camera the new span is not yet open but the old eastern span on the right in the dark is closed.

>> covering walnut creek, burlingame and all bay area this is abc7 news. >> this is the macarthur maze and things are backing up. you can see on the left traffic is shut down headed to the bay bridge. we will check to see what the deal is on the other side. >> it could be from confusion. >> and the main alternates, the other bridges? leyla gulen? >> that is something you do not usually see if you are traveling to the maze very busy coming from berkeley. the other alternates, the san mateo bridge is one of them and so far, so good, we are at top speeds making it across the bridge but i saw we are seeing plenty more cars out there and everyone is continuing to move. it is not until you get to 101 on the peninsula that is where it slows down. from foster city toward 101 you are under 40 miles per hour. as you look at our drive time traffic across the bay area, 580

from tracy to dublin/pleasanton, 48 minutes and highway 4 is building, 13 minutes from antioch to concord and san francisco from san rafael is 14 minutes. mike nicco? >> thank you, leyla gulen, we are were watching the cloud cover. some of that is starting to lower and santa rosa is three miles visibility and everyone else is okay. the cloud cover is climbing down on the deck or get close to it so that is something else we will watch of the winds are 23 miles per hour at fairly so a faster sea breeze so the sunshine will come out an hour slower and with that temperatures are going to be close to average. you can see cloud cover out there, and when sfo lets us know how long the delays are i will let you know. the warmest day is tomorrow and more clouds and cooler weather as we head through the week. as far as the cloud cover for today, you can see it is extensive through 7:00 and by

10:00 or 11:00 we will see clearing inland and around the bay we have clouds and the coast has cloud cover that is, again, going to break up. the seven day forecast shows temperatures that are remain warmer tomorrow and cooler saturday, sunday, and monday. >> leyla gulen was talking about the alternate routes if you cannot take the bay bridge you can see the commute is underway the golden gate bridge is an alternate and dick is using cell 7 technology and is there right now. dick? >> good morning, kristen, i am northbound on 101 over the golden gate bridge to marin county and the northbound ride is fine but the southbound ride i spoke with a friend of mine who comes in each morning at this hour from the santa rosa area and he has made it so san rafael and thinks the traffic is

a little bit heavier than normal at this hour so it is still pretty early and that could be an indication of what is they come but so far we have not seen any problem spots and i am headed back to marin county and, ultimate, over to richmond. thank you, dick. >> today firefighters plan to use large-scale backfires to battle the growing sierra fire burning near and into yosemite national park. the fire has blackened 192,000 acres making it the 6th largest wildfire in california history. the rate of the fire spreading is slowing because of cooler temperatures and lighter wind and higher humidity. the fire now is 30 percent contained with full containment expected by september 10. >> happening today, fast food on strike, the workers are hitting

the pick the line in the bay area and across the country. >> new study that could have you taking the juice box out of the kids' lunch box. >> the bay bridge closure continues here is a look outside from the exploritorium camera at the span not being used by commuters this morning.

>> good morning, a look at new eastern span of the golden gate bridge which is not being used and is still closed and the old span which is shut down as of last night. from the yerba buena island you can see commuters cannot use the bay bridge as they work to connect the new eastern span to the existing toll plaza. it will take a few days. for many, bart is the way to go and that is the way this morning for abc7 news assignment manager talking about the bart commute. >> good morning, normally i take the 520 train and i noticed a lot more vehicle traffic around the parking lot than normal.

usually there are 15 to 20 but this morning there were twice that number. when the train pulled up you could tell it was more crowded than normal mostly the cars, people were standing. for people would have not taken bart to work, they can bring their bicycles on board so there is a lot more people standing there with their bicycles so you have to navigate that. a lot more people got on at west oakland bart station which is the last bart station before you can cross the bay and when we get out it looked like it was 8:00 rare than 5:40 and i am curious this afternoon when everyone threes town what it will look like. >> during regular service hours bart is increasing capacity by

running longer trains. do you see that? was the train longer? >> that was not the case on my train usually it is five or six cars so, yes, wait, this morning there were nine cars on my train. but it was still crowded. >> it will be that way for the next few days. any recommendations? >> i am hoping by the time tomorrow rolls around it should be lighter and by monday with 9 holiday i am thinking today could be the worse day. i hope. and thank you, jim, for checking in. >> when the original bay bridge opened in 1939 governor held the ceremonial blow torch to cut the chain. who has the opportunity on monday? we put the question out on twitter and we are getting a lot

of responds. there is some sport for joe montana 49er legendary quaterback and kaepernick, the current quaterback, but some say wait, it should be an east bay person. so the cow mascot i support that. some supporters out there and mc hammer got votes and clint eastwood grew up this oakland so if you would like to join this conversation go to our facebook page. >> i am not sure i would want a blow torch in my hand. >> a little flammable. >> time for a check on the traffic or weather ... it is track. leyla gulen? >> indeed. from our twitter follower, thank you to you, we are hearing that

longer lines at the alameda main street ferry terminal is starting to back up and the a mass along 580 in the westbound direction with a crash involving a motorcycle at grant line road blocking a lane and folks are trying to help this person over to the shoulder so we are bumper to bumper westbound direction into livermore and continuing to castro valley that is the route to the nimitz to get to the san mateo bridge and the san mateo bridge shows traffic is now starting to build in the westbound direction but, city, moving along and it slows into foster city. mike? >> thank you. here is a look above the marine layer from mount tamalpais a colorful sunrise that i will post for you. temperatures are three degrees warmer in fremont but that is the exception. concord is 86 and san jose 81

all the same and oakland is 74 at two degrees cooler. air quality is an issue through noon in tuolumne county with bad air quality and a lot of matter in the air. the smoke will get you around tahoe and reno to mammoth and flooding is possible in the high desert from scattered thunderstorms and 96 in palm springs and 100 in fresno and 92 in sacramento and 79 in tahoe. >> hundreds of fast food workers are planning a one day strike today and the workers plan to walk out of the dozens of restaurants in ten cities from rich machine to fremont, and that which yous mcdonald's and burger king and taco bell and subway and pizza hunt demanding a $15 hourly minimum rage, improved benefits and the right to form unions. the industry says raiding wages would drive up the cost of food by a third leading to fewer customers and layoffs. >> we are learning about how far

americans will go to get a good night sleep. a day from the centers for disease control finds that 9 million americans took a sleeping pill in the last 30 days. that is 5 percent of american women and 3 percent of american men. white americans use sleep drugs more than other rates and most of the people who take prescription sleep medicines have a diagnosed sleep disorder. >> parents, you may want to skip the juice box packing your kids' lunch. researchers say eating fruit is better than drinking pruett and they looked at 180,000 people and found those who have had three servings of raw fruit decrease their risk for type ii diabetes and those who drink their fruits have increased risk of diabetes. >> the thursday morning commute is off and running. without the bay bridge.

coverage of the closure is next including the work on get the new eastern span ready for commuters next week. a from buses to bart to ferries there are plannive alternatives this morning to avoid the roads and we. breakdown everything you need to know as the abc7 news continues. 580 and 101, this could be a choke point so we are following it c

>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> now, the day is here. this thursday's commute without the bay bridge. here is the toll plaza where passengers are not streaming through. we have the overnight work to

get everything ready for the debut of the new eastern span. >> bart is running nonstop. we are live in san francisco with how busy the trains are getting. >> drivers scramble for alternate routes. there will be gridlock this morning? we have complete coverage on what to expect if you are headed out the door. >> good morning, everyone, thanks for joining us at 6:00 a.m. on thursday. >> we start with a look at the yerba buena island camera, and you can see no traffic moving on the old span. on the left side the bright shiny side is the new eastern span with no track but hopefully there will be this five days. we have coverage of the closure beginning with leyla gulen in the traffic center. leyla gulen? >>guest: it looks like traffic is building as are the accidents. we will take you over the altamont pass where we have